2022 Frugal Living Challenge

cw18

joedenise said:

@Bluegreen143  You can't usually change the amount of a DD as what you signed for is for the company to take a variable amount unless of course your provider will let you change it online, although that's usually limited for much you can reduce it but certainly worth a try.  

Shell allow us to change it ourselves through the app (but not the website), but does have parameters we have to stick within.   That's why I couldn't reduce it by more than £19 myself.

My Mum has an account with Bulb, and I change her DD amount through the website.   That also seems to have parameters - but we recently had some 'fun' with it....

Her account suggested she drop it to £1 (low useage and high credit balance), but when I went to the page where you chaneg the amount it had a note that said they don't allow people to drop to below £5.    So I set it to £5 - only to have that rejected as it was more than £3, and that amount would have her building up further credit !!!    They did remove the £5 minimum last week though (as they started to display the grant payments), so I dropped it to £1 then - and after a phone call to them she should now actually be on variable DD until further notice (which means they won't take anything whilst there's still a credit balance).

And my daughter changed hers with BG.   They 'suggested' a huge hike, so I looked over her account - and she set it to £20 less than they'd asked for, which they accepted.    They've since redone the calculations at their end, and now say it should be about £2 more than I did - so she's leaving it where I said for now.

kiloranbay

@cw18 thank you for the info (still no word from Octopus) and solidarity with your strike ✊ I'd be interested to know the reply to your complaint

fionaandphil

@kiloranbay we are with octopus and not had an email but if you look on your account is says they will knock it off your direct debit. We didn't want that to happen so we just upped our ddr by 67 to keep it the same and build up some credit on our account 

Bluegreen143

@joedenise Shell let you change it online any time you want, they do give you a warning message if you reduce under what it recommends, but it still lets you do it. Mine is set to £275 so I get a message every time I log on as they are recommending I switch to £300, but it’s my choice. But you’re right, I’ve not been able to change it so easily with other suppliers. 

joedenise

Glad it's possible for you @Bluegreen143.  My provider (EDF) will only let me change it by a very limited amount which is hardly worthwhile!  I'll just leave it as it is and then sort out once winter's over.  I'm in credit at the moment but bill's not due until December by which time I may not be!  I'm saving the £66/£67 per month so I've at least got a buffer if needed.  If not it can be moved into other pots.

cw18

joedenise said:

I'm saving the £66/£67 per month so I've at least got a buffer if needed.  If not it can be moved into other pots.

My intention / hope is that by April I'll have the £400 in my bill paying account.   At that point I'll have to consider putting my DD up a bit for the 18 months remaining on the current caps (at the moment I reckon £17/month would cover it, but 'they' wanted me to increase by £21), as it's either that or use up my credit balance which I'd rather keep.   So if I increase by £20, I need £360 over the 18 months - covered by the grant money, meaning I don't have to find any extra for my energy bills from my income until October 2024.   And that sounds like a nice position to be in

Any increase required from Oct 2024 onwards will hopefully be slightly cushioned by a credit balance on my account - currently standing at over £200!

Sweetlittledaydreams

Haven't got round to trying the ivy laundry soap yet but will share how it works when i try it. Have had a good "semi-frugal" day today. Showered at the gym so that saved on my water and gas bill, met a friend for dinner tonight but went somewhere cheap and got a deal of a meal and a drink for £4.19, haven't had the heating on today but I'm going to head to bed soon with a hot water bottle because it's getting a bit chilly pmus I'm really tired. I've had my energy payment of £66, so I'm now £15 in credit, I've never been in credit before as I only pay for what I use normally, so I'm thinking once I've had a few more energy payments I might get a month where I don't have to pay anything because I'll have enough credit to cover it.
My friend said I was mad tonight as I'm planning to take on a third job, she said she'd never work overtime no matter what they paid her, but I don't mind working hard now so that I can have it easier when I'm older and my body doesn't want to be working full time. 
TV has been on the blink for 2 weeks now, haven't minded watching a bit of TV on my laptop instead so wondering whether to replace it or not. I need to look at the rules about TV licences if you only watch catch up TV, as that could be another saving but don't want to get into trouble and have heard that the TV licensing people can be very persistent in trying to get you to pay for a licence even if you don't watch TV.

Elisheba

@Sweetlittledaydreams My sister, who has a bee in her bonnet about the TV licence, tells me that if you are not watching 'live' TV, ie. It's not plugged into an aerial or satellite, and don't use iplayer, then you don't need a TV licence. Obviously, double check that, but I believe those are the rules. 

Jellytotts

You can declare with the license people online that you don’t watch live tv or use iplayer and that stops them sending constant reminders.  We stopped our licence about 3 years ago now.

cw18

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

I need to look at the rules about TV licences if you only watch catch up TV, as that could be another saving but don't want to get into trouble and have heard that the TV licensing people can be very persistent in trying to get you to pay for a licence even if you don't watch TV.

I cancelled my licence on 31/12/ 2010.   Back then they only refunded for full quarter years, otherwise I'd have cancelled earlier.   But by the time my son had moved out for Uni and I'd had time to check the rules I'd missed the 30/9/2010 deadline, so wouldn't have been refunded any extra by cancelling sooner.   They now refund for full months, so you have to cancel by month end to get back the next months payment (assuming you don't pay annually and it's due for renewal at month end - in which case you just don't renew).

You can watch any on-demand APART from anything on iPlayer.
You can't watch anything live - even if you're paying a subscription to the company who are transmitting it (so you have to avoid anything that shows Live through Prime, Sky, Virgin etc. or even YouTube, as well as the normal TV channels).
You need to be aware that a +1 channel counts as live - so to be truly safe you shouldn't stream from catch-up whilst it's showing on one of those.
I have access to NowTV with an Entertainment pass - I have to stay out of the 'watch live' (which my OH can use at his home as he has a licence), but I'm quite happy to watch show a day or three late
You can still listen to all radio stations (including BBC), and can continue to use BBC websites.

I disabled my aerial (the signal has to come through a booster box to work in my house, so I just removed the power to that), removed all coaxial cable from wall sockets to TVs, and then told my TVs to tune in replacing all stations they knew about (this wipes all channels in memory).   The TV in my living room was purchased after I cancelled my licence, so it's never actually been tuned in - so I never checked the in-built Freeview tuner worked

I used to complete the 'no licence required' declaration (you have to complete this if you'd be due a refund), but after repeating the process a few times I got sick of doing it - and it's not a legal requirement.   So, given we don't need to tell relevant authorities we don't need a driving licence, or a passport, or a firearms licence, or a fishing licence, or to pay road fund tax etc., I stopped doing so.   I now get regular letters warning me I'm "under investigation" and that "we're going to come and visit" and other such threats - so I'm piling them up ready to return to any official who does dare come calling.   But if they do they won't be allowed in (no legal right without a warrant), I won't be giving them my name (letters are now 'to the occupant'), and I certainly won't be signing anything (I've read stories of them saying you're signing to confirm you don't need one, when the form is actually an admission that you do but you don't have one!)    Some people continue to pay because they're too scared not to - but I refuse to pay for a service I don't use, in the same way I don't buy a bus pass and then walk to/from work

There is actually a (lengthy) thread about TV Licences (and how to avoid needing one) here on MSE - link below

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/805699/tv-licence-article-discussion#latest